Only one month left for players to earn points to capture the 2011 MNPokerMag Player of the Year title! John Alexander still holds a slim lead over Nate Fair. It addition to several weekly point tournaments available over the next month at Northern Lights, Grand Casino Mille Lacs, Running Aces, Treasure Island, Canterbury Park and Diamond Jo, the MSPT at Canterbury Park will be held December 7-12. 200+ players are expected so that tournament should be worth a lot of points and have a substantial impact on the POY race. Many players still have a shot to capture the POY prize, trophy and most importantly – the Minnesota Poker Magazine Cover! Good luck to all!

If this doesn’t infuriate online poker players, I don’t know what will.

If you recall, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety tried to block poker players in Minnesota from playing online back in 2009 citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 that prohibits certain types of betting businesses in the United States, arguing that all forms of online gambling are illegal.

So the same state that tried to prohibit online poker by arguing all forms of online gambling are illegal…is currently running online lottery sales??? Wow.

A quiet revolution in gambling is under way in Minnesota. Without a single press release or announcement, the Minnesota State Lottery is nearly a year into an experiment to get more Minnesotans to gamble online through a subscription lottery service.

Even in a bad economy, the Minnesota State Lottery set a fourth consecutive sales record in fiscal year 2011, bringing in $504.4 million. Of the gambling proceeds, about $121.9 million went for environmental programs and the state’s general fund.

In Illinois, sales of Illinois lottery tickets grew by 3 percent last year to set a new record. Officials say sales totaled nearly $2.3 billion, an average of $177 for every person in Illinois.

While lottery sales have climbed every year for nine straight years, Illinois Lottery officials proposed selling lottery tickets online last year – a proposal that, as yet, hasn’t gotten anywhere.

Online gambling doesn’t have a great record in Illinois. A few years ago, the state made some types of gambling over the Internet illegal, such as online poker.

Private online gambling is also illegal in Minnesota, and the state’s elected leaders have turned back various gambling expansion proposals and online gambling ventures.

But in the waning months of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration, the Minnesota State Lottery took the first steps toward what could become a massive shift to Internet lottery play. They are looking at the Internet to boost sales as more Minnesotans reject traditional lottery tickets and become more comfortable playing games and buying goods online.

Interim Lottery Director Jenny Canfield, at a lottery seminar last year, said that “We are seeing that decline, and it’s happening very rapidly. We have to react quickly to grab back our players, to build up our player base again.”

Gambling foes dismayed

The move has taken some gambling critics by surprise. Several, including legislators, said they were deeply troubled by what they see as secrecy, aggressive tactics and a bypassing of legislative approval.

“It’s a terrible idea. It’s reprehensible,” said Assistant Senate Majority Leader David Hann, an Eden Prairie, Minn., Republican who tried to abolish the lottery six years ago. “We are spending a lot of taxpayer money to lure people into throwing money down the toilet so we can spend it on something that we think is more important.”

Hann said he wants to explore whether the state lottery has the legal authority to sell tickets online. “To me, it seems like they are exercising some latitude they might not have,” he said.

New governor didn’t know

Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration learned about the online ticket-buying service only recently. Dayton spokesman Bob Hume said the practice started before Dayton took office and that they have not looked into it.

State Rep. Ryan Winkler said it should “absolutely” be reviewed by legislators.

“I certainly want to find out if they have the authority to do it,” said Winkler, who sits on committees that review gambling issues. “It look like they are trying to avoid public attention.”

Lottery officials say they don’t need legislative approval. They liken their online subscription service, which allows players to gamble no more than $50 a week, to electronic commerce, not Internet gambling. “It’s within our guidelines,” Canfield said.

Minnesota is one of only a few states to offer the online lottery ticket sales, but legislators in other states like New Jersey are considering it. North Dakota and New Hampshire offer similar online lottery subscription services, but neither got legislative approval. When North Dakota moved to the online ticket-buying system in 2005, the state’s attorney general signed off, said Randy Miller, director of the North Dakota Lottery.

No one asked A.G.

In Minnesota, the attorney general was never asked to review the idea, said Ben Wogsland, a spokesman for the attorney general. “No one has requested it, and no one has given any advice from our office,” he said.

Laura Sweeney, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, declined to comment on the legality of online ticket sales. The department has shut down numerous online gambling operations around the country.

Lottery officials say there was nothing secretive about the subscription service. They intentionally staged a “soft launch” since they anticipated only a tiny fraction of Minnesotans would use the system and they didn’t want to spook retailers who make a commission selling lottery tickets.

Right now, just 7,599 Minnesotans are signed up for the online service. Subscription sales made up just $607,000 of the $500 million businesses. There is no advertising campaign for the service, which can be found by clicking Buy Online on the lottery’s home page.

“Some people just feel more comfortable online,” Canfield said. “Some more affluent people prefer it.”

The online subscription service allows Minnesotans to buy tickets for most lottery games around the clock.

Players can select a length of subscription from six weeks to a year for a half dozen lottery games, playing $2 to a maximum of $50 per week. Once an online purchase is made, the same numbers must be played for the duration of the subscription. Customers cannot change the numbers or cancel a subscription before the subscription runs out. The lottery does not accept credit cards and requires that subscriptions be paid by direct access to a checking or savings account.

Long-term strategy

Minnesota’s Internet lottery ticket sales are one component in a bolder long-term online strategy. Lottery officials have come to realize that consumer habits have changed in the 23 years since Minnesotans changed the state constitution to allow lottery gambling – especially among young adults.

In 1998, 73 percent of Minnesotans aged 18 to 24 played the lottery at least once a year. Canfield said that by 2010, that number had plunged to 38 percent. Meanwhile, computer games are increasingly popular and online purchasing has soared to $171 billion a year.

“The traditional approaches are not working and we are not maintaining our player base,” Canfield said at the lottery conference.

Canfield who has urged an aggressive approach, such as subscription packages, reaching out through social media and establishing “a strategy to slowly introduce interactive Internet games.”

She said political tides surrounding gambling are shifting rapidly and things that are forbidden now could soon be legal.

“If that time comes, I want to be ready,” she said.

Back in Illinois, while Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers wrestle over potentially expanding gambling, Quinn has been encouraging Illinoisans to buy lottery tickets.

Quinn has said Illinois can’t gamble its way to prosperity, but he says he wants people to buy special lottery tickets that benefit veterans.

The $3 ticket is the latest Veterans Cash lottery ticket since the program’s inception in 2006. The state says the Veterans Cash lottery tickets have raised $9.5 million for veterans’ organizations statewide. The money is used to pay for medical care, disability benefits and housing assistance.

Calling all poker dealers! The MSPT and Meskwaki Casino in Tama, IA are looking for several additional dealers to help during the MSPT event from March 24 – April 1.

The prize pool is guaranteed at $300,000 so a large field is anticipated. If you are a legitimate poker dealer looking to make some extra cash during a big, exciting event, email your interest and contact information to Bryan Mileski, bryan@mnpokermag.com

Rumors have been swirling for a while and Grand Casino Hinckley has decided to relocate their poker room within the casino and will still maintain 3 tables. The previous poker room that was created for poker just a few years back was arguably one of the nicest in the state.

With the location change, Hinckley has also adjusted their poker room hours. The room will now be closed Mon-Thurs but will be open Fri-Sun. There are currently no tournaments on the schedule.

Muneer Ahmed of Dassel, MN took down the Battle of the Border tournament a little after 10pm Saturday evening at Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, IA. Ahmed bested a 111-player field to earn $10,989.

Though Ahmed lives about 3 hours away, he still considers Diamond Jo his home casino. He took 2nd this past August in the Diamond Jo Poker Bash as well earning $5,893.

Ahmed is a Molding Operator for 3M, he enjoys playing smaller tournaments and some cash games. Every Wednesday he plays a bar league with a few of his buddies. He had actually been playing cards until about 2am Saturday morning, went home to sleep for a couple hours and drove back to Diamond Jo to play the Battle of the Border tournament at 10am.

Ahmed amassed a pretty healthy stack by the time play got 3-handed. He led the charge with $1.2 million chips versus Spencer Brackey’s 336K and David Kingsley’s 216K.

Ahmed played confident and aggressive, only got picked off one time during heads up play with Brackey. Spencer Brackey placed 14th in the Poker Bash last August.

Tom Hammers has been on a roll the last few months and pretty much all year for that matter. Hammers earned a Turkey Tourney victory at 6:30am this morning and $16,418. Running Aces Harness Park hosted the $450+$50 tournament that began at 5pm Friday evening with 137 entrants.

Hammers began the year by cashing 30th in the Chicago Poker Classic $3,125 Main Event for $6,282. He then went on to win a $240 event in the same series for $15,521. Hammers also final tabled and placed 7th in each of the last two MSPT events, Treasure Island and Grand Casino Mille Lacs.

On Friday, November 25 we are giving away 50 items to players in our Racebook and 50 items to Card Casino players! Why wake up before dawn to stand in the cold and battle the mall crowds when you can get the hottest items of the season in the warmth and comfort of the Canterbury Racebook. Don’t buy it…Win it!